In the neverending quest for a solid presentation solution for the iPad, the latest contender is SlideShark, an iPad app (with accompanying web management) from the good folks at BrainShark.
Whereas there have been presentation management and display apps for the iPad, such as the very good Presentation Link, SlideShark is the first app to my knowledge that accurately translates existing animated PowerPoint slides for iPad playback.
To use SlideShark, you need to first upload your PPT files to your account on their website where they are converted for use on the iPad. Then, once you have the iPad app installed, you can download your converted presentations and play them through the SlideShark app. On the iPad, you have the option to choose different presentations and to resequence or delete slides within a presentation, even on the fly while presenting.
What’s the catch? No content on your slides can be edited on the iPad as your PPT file has been converted to a proprietary format for playback. Also, slide transitions and certain advanced animations are not currently supported.
If you have a designed PowerPoint file which has necessary animations, then SlideShark is a good solution. If you are not concerned about animations and need to simply show static, non-editable slides, then Presentation Link or my personal favorite solution—JPEGs in the iPad Photo App—is still a good road to go down.
I like the idea, but Slideshark fails to convert a presentation with an embedded font. I'm still looking for a way to present slides in a way which preserves the original formatting, including our corporate custom fonts. Converting to images is an option, but not a particularly sustainable method if you have lots of presentations. Anyone got any more suggestions?
I didn't know about the embedded font issue. Does it not translate the font or fail to convert the file at all? Non-standard fonts are a major issue with PowerPoint in all cases. I would never embed a font as it is simply a buggy, unstable feature that has the potential for corrupting your file at some point in the future (I've seen it happen and it's not a pleasant experience.) Even if you converted to Keynote, you'd find that the iPad only supports a limited number of fonts. If you don't care about animation, a PDF might be the way to go…
good